Toshiyuki Miyama & His New Herd ~ Japan

Tsuchi No Ne (土の音 ～日本伝説の中の詩情)～ (1973)

This album was first described to me as complex horn rock meets Ian Carr's Nucleus meets Vortex (70s French underground band). I would also state it sounds like Dizzy Gillespie meets Art Zoyd with a dash of early 70s Miles Davis. Yes, it's a unique album to say the least. I've only heard one other New Herd album (Yamataifu), and it was too "out jazz" for me. This album, however, is definitely within the rails, and I found it highly enjoyable.

Here's an album that you would have no chance of finding originally, unless you could read kanji or knew what the cover looked like. There are these records from Japan that are so obscure and buried, that even hardcore collectors living in Tokyo do not know about. But they're beginning to surface ever so slowly. There were a lot of surprise CD reissues in 2012, but perhaps none blindsided me as much as this one. I suspect original LPs are of this can be found for 50 cents or $2,000 depending on where you're looking.

Ownership: 2012 Columbia (CD). Acquired in 2012.

12/30/12 (review); 1/25/18

12/30/12 (new entry)